The theme for the TED 2008 conference was recently announced — it is "The Big Questions." A worthy theme for TED, indeed, but not one I am yet prepared to ponder. Rather, as TED 2007 is literally around the corner, I find myself much more engaged in contemplating next week’s theme — "Icons. Geniuses. Mavericks." […]
Worth a read: Fascinating Op/Ed piece in today’s Times by Carolyn Porco on the brightening future for human space travel, which has been faltering since the Nixon era. TED2006 speaker, Burt Rutan, had a lot to say about this in his TED talk, which provocatively began: “Houston, we have a problem. We’re entering a second […]
Along the social absorption route, there is always a point where complex issues and inconvenient messages percolate into the pop-culture sphere and start being considered self-evident, possibly triggering changes in behavior and other individual or collective responses. For the climate crisis that point may be nearing. It may even have a precise date: this year’s […]
Yes, that’s a NASCAR racer pictured above, and yes, you’re still on the TEDBlog. If you think there’s something incongruous about mentioning NASCAR and TED in the same sentence, I’d like to ask you to imagine NASCAR as an interesting place where a corporate strategy focusing on technology, entertainment, and design goes to create stories […]
Architect Zaha Hadid, scheduled to speak at TED2007 in March, today unveiled plans for a stunning performing arts center in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The center encompasses five individual theaters, and will be one of five major cultural institutions on the new cultural district of Saadiyat Island. “It’s an inspiration from nature, and an […]
The hoopla around the launch of the iphone is further proof of the power of multi-touch interfaces to transform the way we use computers. Jeff Han blew away the TED audience in Monterey in February with his pioneering demo. There were rumors that Apple had tried (unsuccessfully) to hire Jeff at one point to work […]
At the end of his first speech at TED2006, Al Gore announced that he was going to train a thousand people to give the climate change presentation he gave there – and which is at the core of his movie An Inconvenient Truth. That has turned into the Climate Project, and three training sessions have […]
Longtime TEDster Jeff Bezos, head of Amazon, has revealed video footage of an early test flight from his secret space project Blue Origin. The vertical take-off vehicle shown here blasted off gently on November 13th and reached a height of 285 feet before descending safely back to earth. The project’s goal is to lower the […]
TED2006 speaker Jamais Cascio has a very interesting way of considering cheeseburgers. He tries (in this post) to calculate their carbon footprint: how much carbon is produced in the process of cooking the burger, plus growing the feed for the cattle, growing and milling the wheat to make bread, growing the other ingredients, slaughtering and […]
It’s a new year and up at the Edge John Brockman is asking the now-traditional annual "big question", a wide-open query put to many smart people, mostly scientists from all disciplines. Last year John asked "What is your dangerous idea?". This year, he has somehow reversed the lens: "What are you optimistic about? Why?". 160 […]
TEDGlobal2007 speaker Ory Okolloh is one of those young Africans that graduated from Western universities and then went back home armed with degrees, tools, a vision and the intention to improve the state of their countries. The first time I met her I discovered a smart and driven woman who could really make a difference […]
The photographer Kristen Ashburn, whose unforgettable images of the human impact of AIDS in Africa made a powerful impact at TED a couple years back, has just opened her first public exhibition in New York. It’s stunning. For a taste, take a few minutes to watch this. Better yet, check it out in person at […]
For Thomas Dolby fans like us, there’s a lot to look forward to right now. Along with the highly entertaining blog he’s had for some time, TED’s music director just released a beautifully produced podcast series with excerpts from his extraordinary tour earlier this year. He’s also releasing a CD and DVD: “The Sole Inhabitant.” […]
Encounter Point, an incredible documentary that follows a former Israeli settler, a Palestinian ex-prisoner, a bereaved Israeli mother and a wounded Palestinian bereaved brother who risk their lives and public standing to promote a nonviolent end to the conflict, is opening in select cities in the US and the Middle East tomorrow. The film is […]
The Worldchanging book, “A user’s guide to the 21st century,” is published today. Our friends at Worldchanging.com in Seattle have been for a few years now publishing an insightful and inspiring collective blog disseminating information about sustainability and social change and describing pragmatically what’s possible, what new technologies are coming along, what solutions to the world’s global and local […]
Edward Burtynsky finds the eerie beauty in the man-made landscapes that dot our Earth’s surface. As a photographer who focuses on the relationship between humans and nature, he travels to the hidden corners of the Earth to document the way people are ravaging our planet. Below, 13 of his haunting images of altered nature. All […]